


I Thought Of You

by notsodarling



Series: no more keepin' score [5]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Featuring a Cranky Sanders, M/M, Michael Guerin Loves Alex Manes, fluff (mostly)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28079043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notsodarling/pseuds/notsodarling
Summary: Alex goes on a work trip, and well, Michael misses him more than he thought he would.
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Series: no more keepin' score [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2057037
Comments: 20
Kudos: 91





	I Thought Of You

**Author's Note:**

> title from "evermore" by taylor swift
> 
> I might end up making a Part 2 to this one...

Michael picks up his cell phone and stares at the screen.

No new messages.

It's not that he doesn't trust Alex, but there's still a sense of worry that takes over every time Alex leaves on a work trip. Michael finds himself paralyzed by the memory of the time he'd supposed to have gone on a recruitment trip for the Air Force, and had ended up being taken hostage by Flint Manes and Helena Ortecho. No one had known for days because Alex was scheduled to be out of communication.

At least now during the day he'd been able to keep busy at the junkyard, going in early, and staying much later than his normal shift demanded. Sanders wasn't thrilled by the temporary arrangement, but the workshop had never been so straightened and cleaned up before, he'd stopped grumbling after the third day.

No, the problem comes later when Michael is supposed to leave for the day. The first night without Alex, he'd gone back to the house - their house, _their home_ \- and tried to not think about how empty it felt knowing Alex wasn't just late coming home from work at the base. He'd wrapped himself up in one of Alex's Air Force hoodies and fallen asleep on Alex's side of the bed. It didn't get easier the second night, or the third. And by the fifth night of Alex's scheduled trip, Michael hadn't even bothered to drive home, instead crashing in the Airstream that he hadn't properly occupied in months.

This trip though, is harder on Michael than any of the ones that have happened in between. Because this time, Alex is off the grid, and Michael has no way of knowing that he's okay, that he's safe, or even that he'll be coming back home on time. It doesn't stop him from checking his phone, hoping maybe to see Alex break a rule, and choose to contact him in a fit of rebellion.

"You're scaring the customers," Sanders gruffs at him on the night of the sixth day Alex's been gone. "Did you and the Manes boy fight or something?"

Michael sighs. "He's traveling for work."

"So you've decided to haunt my junkyard in the meantime?"

Michael checks his phone again - nothing.

"Go home, idiot."

He listens, afraid of having to deal with Sanders otherwise, and returns home to the empty house. Inside the bedroom door, he toes off his boots, and kicks them off watching them land in the middle of the floor. Next is his grease stained work shirt, dropping it onto the floor, thinking he'll pick it up later along with the jeans he steps out of in the doorway to the bathroom. Standing in front of the shower, he turns the water on, lets it get hot as he removes his boxers, throwing them somewhere in the vicinity of the hamper in the corner, before stepping under the spray.

He and Alex have gone much longer without speaking, they made it through ten years with only seeing one another maybe one or twice a year, and now-

Now Michael couldn't even handle a week.

He closes his eyes and focused on the feeling of the water hitting his body, trying to stop his mind from it's usual noise and chaos. Sometimes it helps when he's stressed, but the hot water in the Airstream only ever lasted so long, and Michael feels wound tight now, he misses Alex so much. It had taken them so long to figure it out, figure _them_ out. Months of trying to be friends, both of them watching the other date someone else, thinking maybe that person could make them happier then they could make each other.

Michael braces one hand against the wall, wrapping the other around himself. He keeps his eyes closed, water still cascading down around him, and thinks of Alex's hands on him. Despite the years of being in the Air Force, despite that childhood with Jesse Manes trying to force him into that Manes Man mold, Alex still had the softest, most beautiful hands. He thinks about how it feels when Alex does this, when it's Alex's hand wrapped around him, or it's Alex's mouth he's pushing into instead of his own fist.

But his mind won't settle, his hands are too rough and calloused from years of working at the junkyard, nothing feels right enough to feel good, and he shuts the water off instead. Hair dripping, he steps out of the shower, and grabs the nearest towel off the bar to get rid of the excess water, as he steps out into the bedroom.

It's getting late, just around eight o'clock, and Michael feels like he's already exhausted. According to the basic itinerary Alex had given him before leaving, he would be back on the seventh day, though it wasn't clear what time. With the knowledge that maybe, maybe when he wakes up he'll only have to deal with a handful more hours until Alex returns, Michael slips into a clean pair of boxers he grabs from the dresser, and crawls under the covers, curling up on Alex's side of the bed again, and missing him even more.

He wakes in the middle of the night, and notices light coming in under the bedroom door - had he forgotten to turn off one of the lights in his movements earlier? Michael groans and momentarily considers leaving it until morning, except that’s when he hears the opening of the fridge in the kitchen and a cupboard door closing. His heart feels like it skips around in his chest - is Alex home?

It's that question he asks himself that makes him throw back the covers and throw open the bedroom door into the main room.

Alex is sitting at the table, laptop open in front of him, a half-eaten sandwich and a cup of tea next to it. His hair is a mess, and he's wearing fatigues, which means he'd probably had to report to base at some time today, but he's here.

He's _home_.

For the first time in a week, Michael feels like he can breathe properly, even before he’s managed to get his hands on Alex. Just physically seeing him sitting there at the table is enough for the moment.

“Alex,” he chokes out, his voice not higher than a whisper, still in shock that Alex is here in front of him. He watches as Alex finishes whatever he was doing on his laptop, closing the lid, and turning to face him, and he really is the best thing Michael has seen in a week.

“Did you miss me?” 

He’s teasing, Michael knows he is, because that’s a dumb question to ask. Alex has to know how much Michael has missed him, doesn’t he?

“Did I-” Michael sputters, before watching as a smile crosses Alex face. “That’s not funny.”

“I know,” Alex replies, pushing up off the chair, removing his jacket and draping it over the back of the chair, before crossing over to him.

Michael doesn’t move, stays still in the open doorway to the bedroom, and lets Alex come to him, doesn’t protest when Alex puts a hand on his chest and gently pushes him back against the door frame, Alex pressed up against him.

“Sanders was ready to fire me for being at the junkyard too much.”

Before he can push forward to kiss Alex, because it’s one of the only things he wants to do right now - Alex is taking a step back, eyes wide and brow furrowed in confusion.

“What do you mean? What happened?”

Michael feels his shoulders sag. “Nothing, just missed you. The house felt too empty without you here.”

“Michael-”

And he knows. Without Alex saying a word, he knows that Alex has figured out he’s been miserable this entire week. It hadn’t been his plan, to let Alex know the extent of how pathetic he’d been, missing him terribly, especially without being able to even _text_ this past week. But the cat’s out of the bag now, and there’s no turning back.

“It’s not a big deal-”

“Don’t say that,” Alex interrupts, stepping forward again, and back into Michael’s space. Michael reaches out, wrapping his arms around Alex’s waist, pulling their bodies flush, reveling in feeling all of Alex against him. It’s something he’s working on, accepting when he feels sad or angry, letting Alex in instead of blocking him out and claiming he’s fine. It’s a process to learn, to allow himself to lean on someone else, and trust they’ll be there to catch him. “But I promise, this isn’t going to be a normal thing. Next time, there won’t be a communication blackout.”

Finally, _finally_ , Alex leans in, gently brushing the tip of his nose across Michael’s cheek before pressing in, their lips connecting, and Michael can’t help himself, he pushes forward into Alex, tightening his arms around Alex’s waist to keep him close. 

“I missed you too, you know,” Alex says against his lips, and even though they’re pushed flush together, Michael still tries to tighten his hold a bit.

Skipping out on work tomorrow sounds like a good idea. He’s pretty sure Sanders won’t mind if he doesn’t show up.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! <3


End file.
